This rather ungraceful camera offers the option to use one of several preset programs: normal, action, creativity, or aperture-priority automatic mode.

In "Normal" mode, the light meter calculates both the shutter speed and aperture. In "Action" mode, the range of shutter speeds is limited to those faster than 1/500. In "Creativity" mode, the metering system favors slower shutter speeds.

The timer on this model also functions as an intervalometer, with intervals possible up to 90 minutes.

Most primary functions are conveniently operated with the right-hand index finger, and switching between exposure modes is very swift. Adjusting shutter speeds in manual mode is also quick with well-positioned "down" and "up" buttons (much more practical in my opinion than on a Pentax ME-super, for example).

To the left of the prism is a large LCD display that shows the frame counter, shutter speed, and exposure mode. It also displays sensitivity, timer settings, and intervalometer settings. When using DX coding, sensitivity adjustment switches to exposure compensation.

The standard back can be replaced with the "INFOBACK-3", allowing for overlaying information on photos and extending the intervalometer to nearly 100 hours between shots.

This particular unit, fitted with an "Exakta" zoom lens, likely originates from the German distributor Porst, which offered it equipped as such in some of their catalogs.

The colored accents on the Chinon logo on the top plate and next to certain focal length values on the zoom lens are not original but were added by a previous owner.

In France, Chinon SLR cameras are less known and less common than those of other Japanese brands. This might be due to the brand's late arrival in the market and a delay in gaining recognition. However, Chinon regularly released new models from the early 70s until the late 80s, with a very good level of quality, ensuring full compatibility with M42 and later K mount lenses, at a very attractive price.

		Years	Lens Mount	Exposure
Chinonflex TTL		c. 1969	M42	Semi-automatic
M-1		c. 1974		Semi-automatic
CE Memotron		1974		Aperture priority exposure
CX		1974		Semi-automatic
CE-II Memotron		1976		Aperture priority exposure
CXII		1976		Semi-automatic
CM-3		1977
CS		c. 1978
CE-3 Memotron		1978		Aperture priority exposure
CE-4		1979	K
SLR		c. 1979	M42	Semi-automatic
CM-4		1981	K
CS-4		1981	M42
CM-4s		1981	K
CA-4		1980		Aperture priority exposure
CA-4s
CE-4s		1981
CE-5		1982
CG-5		c. 1982
CM-5		c. 1982		Semi-automatic
CP-5s		c. 1984		Aperture priority exposure and Program
DP-5		c. 1984
CP-5		1986
CP-6		c. 1986
CP-X		c. 1986
CP-7M		1986
CM-7		c.1988		Double automatism
CP-9 AF		1988	C-AF (compatible K)	Aperture priority exposure and Program